Job vacancies, Q3 2012

Like the 2nd quarter, the survey on job vacancies shows a decrease in the number of job vacancies compared to the same quarter the previous year. The job vacancy rate was 2.4 per cent in the 3rd quarter of 2012, down 0.3 percentage points from the 3rd quarter of 2011.

Decrease in residential care activities, growth in public administration

The number of job vacancies in residential care activities decreased by 3 700 from the 3rd quarter of 2011 to the same quarter in 2012. Despite the decrease, this industry still has one of the highest job vacancy rates. Also in domestic trade, professional, scientific and technical activities and real estate activities there was a decrease in job vacancies during the last year. In these industries, the number of job vacancies was reduced by 2 900, 800 and 200 respectively. In public administration, however, there was a growth of 500 job vacancies from the 3rd quarter of 2011 to the same quarter in 2012.

Still most job vacancies in administrative and support service activities

Despite a small decrease, administrative and support service activities had the highest number and the highest rate of job vacancies in the 3rd quarter of 2012. This has also been the case in the other quarters of 2012. The 9 200 job vacancies in this industry correspond to 6.1 per cent of all the posts in the industry. Domestic trade had 6 800 job vacancies in the 3rd quarter of 2012, corresponding to a job vacancy rate of 1.9 per cent. The 4 700 job vacancies in residential care activities correspond to a rate of 3.2 per cent.

Continued high job vacancy rate in Germany

The job vacancy rate in Germany was 2.7 per cent in the 2nd quarter of 2012. Germany has one of the highest job vacancy rates in the EU; a position the country has held for the last couple of years. In comparison, the EU countries combined had a job vacancy rate of 1.5 per cent in the 2nd quarter of 2012. In Norway, the job vacancy rate was 2.9 per cent during the same period. The comparison with other countries is based on the 2nd quarter of 2012 as the figures for the 3rd quarter have not yet been published. Agriculture, forestry and fishing are excluded from this international comparison. For more information is available on Eurostat’s website .

Tables:

• Table 1 Job vacancies, by major industry division
• Table 2 Job vacancy rate, by major industry division. Percentage of job vacancies in relation to the number of posts (job vacancies and occupied posts) in each group